On Monday, the House Committee on Education heard a bill that would fund ninth graders who were enrolled in a Joint Technical Education District. Rep. Ethan Orr (R-Tucson) is the primary sponsor; fellow Tucson Rep. Victoria Steele (D-Tucson) signed on with him.

JTEDs were created in 1990 so students could pursue vocational,
technical and career-oriented classes that don’t typically require an
advanced degree. The program, which is in place in 13 districts, has
decreased the dropout rates in those districts. Orr said: “I believe the
reason is because it’s a very effective teaching model for some
students. You allow kids to do project-based education, to put their
hands on the material, which is why they have such a high graduation
rate.”

The bill passed through the committee 8-1. “I’d love to see JTEDs be
able to go down to the middle schools and the junior highs. I think
it’s the best dropout prevention program that we have,” said Rep. Doris
Goodale (R-Kingman).

***

The Senate Committee of Judiciary considered the repeal of 2305, the omnibus elections bill
that was pushed through the Legislature at the end of the session last
year. The House version passed through the House Committee of the
Judiciary last week and passed through the Committee of the Whole on
Thursday. The debate in the Senate committee, similar to that in the
House, divided along party line. Many speakers who came to oppose the
bill. The bill passed along party lines 6-3.

Sen. Judy Burges (R-Sun City West) proposed a bill that would
prohibit female genital mutilation. Twenty states have already passed
laws against female genital mutilation and 12 have made it a felony to
perform such mutilation on a minor. The bill passed 8-1 through the
committee, with Senator Steve Gallardo as the only opponent. Federal law
has banned female genital mutilation in the United States since 1996,
as a crime punishable by five years in prison.

***

The House Committee on Agriculture and Water heard a bill that would strengthen laws against livestock and animal cruelty.
“Animal control can intervene with great difficulty if at all. In the
unlikely event of an intervention, prosecutors can attempt to prosecute
but they can’t really convict. And if by some miracle conviction occurs,
the penalties are minor,” said Rep. Kate Brophy McGee (R-Phoenix). “The
offendent gets off with a slap on the wrist and probably stops by the
local pet store on the way home.”

Despite Brophy McGee’s passionate testimony, there was opposition,
including from Kathleen Mayer, the legislative liaison for the Pima
County Attorney’s Office. Mayer said she worries the new legislation
would make it more difficult for her to prosecute animal-cruelty cases
and might also make penalties for animal abuse less severe.

“If I kill their goats and horses under Title Three, that’s a class
five felony. If I allow my own to starve, it’s a class one misdemeanor,”
Mayer said. Animal rights legislation failed in the Legislature last
session because of problems that the law could cause for those raising
livestock. Barton and Brophy McGee are trying to address those issues
this time around. The bill passed through the committee 6-2.

***

On Wednesday, around 20 babies gathered in Senate Hearing Room 1
(with their mothers), in opposition to legislation that would prohibit licensed midwives from accepting clients who have had a C-section, are pregnant with more than one fetus, or are pregnant with a breached fetus.

Sen. Kelli Ward (R-Lake Havasu City) was the sponsor. She cited a
study from the Department of Health Services at the University of
Arizona, which found that infants born at home were three times more
likely to die than infants born at the hospital. “One of the main
reasons I wanted to bring this is I’m a pro-life legislator and I see
the mom and the baby as two separate entities,” Ward explained. “I can
tell you that I’d love to preserve the choice of the mother for her home
birth, but that child also needs to have a choice.”

In opposition, Tori Anderson, of the Right for Homebirth consumer
group, said that the government shouldn’t be able to tell women whether
or not they can take risks associated with home birth. “Women and
mothers are smart, informed and educated,” Anderson said. “We have a
right to choose our patient care. We have a right to do our own research
and make our own choices for our birth.” The bill passed along party
lines

On Thursday, a bill to allow terminal patients access to experimental drugs in
clinical trial passed through the House Reform and Human Services
Committee, 5-2. The bill was proposed by Rep. Phil Lovas (R-Peoria) and
was supported by the Goldwater Institute.

Terminally ill patients would have access only to drugs that have
made it through the first clinical trial, and only after the patient
exhausted all other options. The FDA already has access programs but,
according to Steven Walker, the co-founder of the Abigail Alliance for
Better Access to Developmental Drugs, it’s extremely difficult for a
patient to get such access. When they do, the process is complex,
time-consuming, uncertain, and takes too much of the limited time the
patient has left, Walker said.

No opponents signed in to oppose the bill, but Rep. Juan Mendez
(D-Tempe) spoke out in opposition. He cited opinion from an oncologist
from Minnesota, Dean Gesme, who says that less than 10 percent of drugs
beginning at phase-one safety trials are eventually ruled viable. “It is
unfair and unsound government to circumvent the FDA, threatening their
mission of protecting and promoting public health through the overseeing
of the testing of new drugs,” Mendez said.

If the bill is eventually passed and approved by the voters, it might
still face challenges in the courts if the federal government decides
to pursue it, as the state would be ignoring federal law. “You have to
always think about the cost and time in an effort like this, but if you
can save lives then I think that it’s worth it,” Lovas said.

Meanwhile, in the House Judiciary Committee, a bill proposed by Rep. Justin Pierce (R-Mesa) would make assisting suicide a
manslaughter crime. The bill specifies that anyone who intentionally
offers or provides the physical means for someone to commit suicide
would be committing manslaughter. The bill passed along party lines.

***

A bill by Sen. David Farnsworth (R-Mesa) allowing people to raise fowl in their backyards passed
through the Senate on Thursday. “Transmit to the House via carrier
pigeon,” Senate President Andy Biggs quipped after it passed.

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